Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Pork Cheeks make a warming Winter Stew

Do you know what these are? Pretty pink little porc cheeks that I discovered at my favorite butcher's stall at Vaison's Tuesday Provençal market. I had seen beef cheeks before and knew that you had to braise them, best at low temperature and for hours but since they are so big had never bought them.

The problem with porc cheeks - they don't come all pink and pretty like in the first picture, they come like in the picture above, covered in protective tissue that you have to remove. Hint: sharpen your knives before you tackle that step or flirt with your butcher. Provençal market butchers are no nonsense, flirtproof and used to dealing with non squeamish women (the other ones don't even think about cooking something so outlandish) so you just have to do it yourself. And then chop some onions, garlic, carottes, add a bayleaf and a bottle of red wine - here we use Côtes du Rhône of course.

Cover in clingfilm and let marinate overnight. The next day let braise at 150C/300F for about 3 hours in the oven, covered of course. Take out the by then falling apart pork cheeks and reduce the sauce. I served this flavorful stew with some stir fried savoy cabbage and believe me - it does chase the winter away!

Flirting with the butcher made me laugh out loud. I always ask for “the one they would take home to their mother” it almost always works with the exception of one butcher that said he did not get along with his mother. I asked if he liked his wife and he said yes. I then asked for “the one he would take home to his wife”.